I look forward to this. Wish there was a DVD release as well.

Hopefully someday they will do some archival releases.

However, what a horrible album cover.

It is indeed a terrible cover. What does the ship have to do with anything?

Awful cover.

There are so many decent bootleg videos of the original Van Halen it is hard to believe they do not have a quality master from their heyday back in the early 80's.

Last album had a train on the cover, so why not a ship? I agree it's terrible though, but their album covers in VH-world seem to have pretty much been after-thoughts since Balance (20 freaking years ago!), so it wouldn't surprise me at all if that is it. It does look very amateurish.

The way this information was pieced together (cached google searches of Amazon, etc.) there is a lot of speculation on the VHLinks that this is a hoax or inaccurate. Starting to look more and more legit though, in my view. And it gives them yet one more excuse to tour again playing the 1978-1984 catalog.

They're also remastering the classic 6-pack (yet again) direct from the original analog tapes to each of CD, LP, and digital download. If the rumors are true, VH1 and 1984 will be released together with the live album in March and the reissues for VH2 through Diver Down will follow through the spring. They ought to go ahead and remaster A Different Kind of Truth while they're at it. Other than Diver Down, it probably needs it the most among the DLR records.

The whole catalog needs it - especially the Hagar records (OU812 desperately). And I bet VH3 would even be listenable if properly mixed/mastered. But alas, the VH camp currently only recognizes 1978-1984 and 2007+ to be official Van Halen. The "other stuff" EVH likened to kids who went off to camp or college and may/may not ever return. Or some such nonsense.

[Edited on 2/6/2015 by Zambi]

If true, I'm also interested to hear how much of the live record was redone in the studio. I suspect it will be like KISS Alive. The Live Right Here Right Now album in the early 1990s was recorded when the band was at its peak from a performance perspective, and with a singer who could largely sing in tune (irrespective of what you think about Hagar), and yet they re-recorded most of that one in the studio and piped in crowd noise. I suspect any new 'live' record with DLR singing will be close to 100% studio takes.

It is indeed a terrible cover. What does the ship have to do with anything?

From the web,

"During World War II, Normandie was seized by US authorities at New York and renamed USS Lafayette. In 1942, the liner caught fire while being converted to a troopship, capsized onto her port side and came to rest on the mud of the Hudson River at Pier 88, the site of the current New York Passenger Ship Terminal. Although salvaged at great expense, restoration was deemed too costly and she was scrapped in October 1946."

Maybe its a metaphor for the ship that has become VH?

Well it's official now:
http://www.vhnd.com/2015/02/05/van-halens-definitive-live-album-remasters-full-details/

Still seems odd that they included VH1 and 1984 as a "boxed set" packaged with the new live album. Seems like the classic 6 pack would've been a better boxed set, but perhaps they didn't hit certain deadlines to get the other 4 remastered in time for the March 31 release date. I suspect touring starts in April or May and the March 31 was a hard deadline.

And they excluded ADKOT from the remastering too, but I guess they could hit that one if they ever do the post-1984 years later.

And for marketing B.S., find this one increibly hard to believe:

1) KEEPING IT REAL: This is a VERY authentic live recording. Every bit of the concert is in here, including Dave speaking Japanese to the enthusiastic crowd, full guitar and drum solos, etc. Note there are absolutely NO touchups on the lead vocals, unlike most live albums. They considered using different songs from different shows, but thought it would be better to simply release one stellar performance. They want this one to be authentic!

here's the youtube show:

Runnin with the Devil

Panama

Further proof of why Roth killed that last tour. The poor singing and tune issues are bad enough but it is the timing that really gets annoying.

Did they release this just to embarrass him? Of all the years of shows, this is the best that they can come up with?

EVH finally starts playing well again, gets stuck with Roth again and now years go by again. Shame.

If they had just found some 20 year old with long blonde hair who could sing and do the songs justice than they would be an album deeper by now and the shows would have been killer.

Yeah, that not listenable...DLR range is awful and his delivery is worse. Not a huge fan of EVH's guitar tone in this recording either.

I thought VH played and sang well in 2007 (despite a terrible sound guy). DLR's limitations were visible but they music was good and energetic and the background vocals strong and it worked in a live setting (not sure I'd want a recording). I like the new studio album a couple of years ago. I will not be buying this.

Now, if they could find the complete tape from that 1981 Oakland show and release it, I would be a buyer in a second!

Did VH ever put out a live album?

Did VH ever put out a live album?

yes the one with hagar

No Jamie's Cryin'?

No purchase. 😉

Did VH ever put out a live album?

yes the one with hagar

"Right Here, Right Now" was live in name only. According to Hagar pretty much everything was rerecorded in the studio.

Speaking of that album, it had a cover of "Won't Get Fooled Again".

Further proof of why Roth killed that last tour. The poor singing and tune issues are bad enough but it is the timing that really gets annoying.

Did they release this just to embarrass him? Of all the years of shows, this is the best that they can come up with?

Totally agree. I wonder if this is the VH Brothers version of the Allman Bros. Reakin' at the Beacon. They are going to do a huge cash-grab tour this spring through fall with DLR (dates from LiveNation are leaking), but I wonder if they then choose to part ways with DLR again. They can say his voice was shot over the tour and point to this live album as more proof.

Yeah, that not listenable...DLR range is awful and his delivery is worse. Not a huge fan of EVH's guitar tone in this recording either.

I expected worse after reading this comment, but DLR wasn't nearly as bad as many other clips on youtube. I was figuring if they were determine that it be a "live" album and not re-record any parts that they may've tweaked them in the studio with digital technology (like auto-tune his vox without making it sound all dance clubby). At the very least they could have deleted some of DLR's out of tune yelps and screams. They could do that and still maintain the "nothing was touched up or re-recorded" marketing line.

EVH's guitar tone went into the crapper after the Best Of Vol. 1 in 1996. It began when he started using a front pickup, and got worse when he went to Peavy amps, but even then he sounded awesome on Balance and Twister and even the 2 'new' DLR songs on BOV1 he sounded really good. But EVH hasn't had a good tone since the 2000s.

"Right Here, Right Now" was live in name only. According to Hagar pretty much everything was rerecorded in the studio.

Speaking of that album, it had a cover of "Won't Get Fooled Again".

I think Hagar's chuckle about "actually never playing this one in the studio" is that it was the only tune on the "live" record that they never performed live in concert. At least all the other tunes were performed live, even if parts were re-recorded in the studio. Won't Get Fooled Again" was recorded entirely in the studio with crowd noise pumped in after-the-fact (and too loud). In the pre-internet days they were delusional enough to think they could pass that off though.

That clip from the MTV special is apparently the only other version of the band doing the song that exists. Weird thing is it show Michael Anthony's capability on bass. And the one thing about the new live album is it seems balanced really well with low end. Makes you wonder how good the band could've sounded if they'd let Mikey play and really mix him into the studio records after the Women & Children First records.

Also, though not released as a record, the Live Without A Net video is incredible and almost entirely live. Hagar said in one of his autobiographies that he did touch up some mistakes in the truck (mobile recording studio) outside the arena after the concert was recorded, so that the vox would largely sound the same. And they may've touched up some bum notes, but they also left some in so I'm not sure they corrected any of the instrumentation. I think that video is probably 95% live. Other than a couple of Hagar's douche-baggery antics and the horrible bass solo, it was a pretty awesome performance and video.

Also, the live PPV from Toronto in 1995 was pretty awesome too, although there was clearly background vox being piped in on a few songs (as well as all of the keyboards by this point). That was supposed to be released officially after that tour ended, as a placeholder between records, but that all fell apart when Hagar got the boot in 1996.

I enjoyed the Hagar years, but prefer the original lineup. Hagar's voice has some of that stereotypical 80s lead screamer sound at times and can be a bit abrasive, but he can still sing 95% of what he did 20 or 30 years ago. Given where DLR's voice has gone, I think Hagar would've been the best shot if the band wanted to continue moving forward. Sadly that will never happen after what occurred on the 2004 tour and Hagar throwing EVH under the bus in Hagar's official autobiography.